By Kamsi Anayo
The Rivers State Police command said it has arrested one of the suspects who gruesomely killed SP Bako Angbashim, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ahoada Local Government Area of the state.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said the suspects who is under police custody was arrested in Edoaha community in Ahoada while he was about to be lynched to death by angry mob.
Iringe-Koko, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt said: “The Rivers State Police operatives on Monday, Sept. 25 at about 19:43hrs acting on actionable information received that in Edoaha Community in Ahoada East, one of the suspects who brutally killed SP Bako Angbashim was about to be lynched to death by an angry mob.
“Subsequently, a team of policemen swung into action to rescue the suspect who was about to be burnt with a tyre on his neck. He was rescued and brought to the station where he made a useful statement.
“He was later transferred to SCID for discrete investigation with a view to apprehend the fleeing kingpin, his gang members, and to recover their operational weapons.”
Meanwhile, an ethnic group in the state, the ‘Ogoni Peoples Assembly’ (OPA), has declared that the slain DPO of Ahoada Division, SP Angbashim did not lose his family members in Ogoniland as was reported in a section of the media.
Following the circumstances surrounding the death of the DPO, there was a media report that he lost his family members to criminals during his stay in Ogoni.
But the leader of the Ogoni Peoples Assembly, Mr Probel Williams, who spoke with journalists yesterday, in Port Harcourt, insisted that the deceased DPO had a cordial relationship with the people of Ogoni when he served at Bori Divisional Police headquarters.
He said the DPO until he left the area did not lose any members of his family.
Williams said the support given to the deceased by the Ogoni people contributed to his crime fighting success, saying that his presence brought sanity and restored security in the area.
According to him: “The media report that late SP Bako Angbashim lost his family in Ogoni is not correct. Ogoni people are peace loving people and would not have in anyway contemplated killing a gallant police officer’s family members. The late DPO was a diligent officer who fought hard to restore security in our land.
“He was supported by the people of Ogoni and that was the reason why he succeeded in his fight against crime. The OPA which I led gave him an award the, ‘symbol of security in Ogoni land’ the award was given to him in appreciation to his dogged fight against crime and criminality.
“We loved him and since the news of his demise break we were very sad. If we did not support him he wouldn’t have succeeded in crime fighting in our land. I want the public to ignore such report,” he said.
The late Angbashim was beheaded on September 8, 2023, at Odumede community in Ahoada local government area of Rivers State by suspected cult group believed to be Icelanders.